Nietzschean Empire

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The Nietzschean Empire was the ultimate goal of the Nietzschean Alliance. This new empire was a dream years in the making, conceived by a united force of Nietzschean Prides. In the eyes of the Nietzschean people, this new state would have the power and the determination to do all the things that the Systems Commonwealth could not. This empire was supposed to be founded after the Nietzschean overthrew the Systems Commonwealth, the dominant galactic government, which was perceived as weak by the Nietzschean prides, and therefore needed to be replaced. In the end, this dream would never be realized, plunging the known worlds into to an era of unprecedented terror and suffering.

The Alliance soon began their uprising at Hephaistos, where they lured 200 High Guard vessels and began to destroy them one-by-one. However, most of the crew from the Andromeda Ascendant managed to get to Slipstream in escape pods to warn the entire Commonwealth. What was intended as a short war, meant to last weeks, turned into a full-scale conflict between the Nietzscheans and Commonwealth that dragged on for two years. It became known as the "Nietzschean Rebellion" to the Commonwealth and among Nietzscheans as the "Nietzschean Tactical Offensive".

When a fleet of 1500 Nietzschean ships met a High Guard fleet of 100 at the Battle of Witchhead, it seemed like a certain victory and the establishment of a Nietzschean Empire. However, a ship only known only in legend as the Angel of Death ignited the nebula, destroying at least 2/3 (66.667%) of the fleet (1000 ships). The remaining fleets practically annihilated each other. It was revealed that this legendary ship was the Andromeda Ascendant from the future.

With the Alliance weakened and the Magog attacks increased, the Jaguar Pride turned on the ruling Drago-Kazov Pride, and the rest of the Nietzschean Prides soon began attacking each other. The Alliance then shattered, with no hope of ever creating an empire.

Spearheaded by the Drago-Kazov Pride, there was a small but growing movement among the Nietzscheans that believed the Commonwealth had become too complacent, too restrictive for the Nietzscheans to thrive under its rule. This fringe movement that called for the Commonwealth's destruction began as just that, a fringe ideology. The majority of Nietzscheans were opposed to this idea, believing that such drastic action was unnecessary. The Magog-Commonwealth War and the Treaty of Antares changed that. Of all the species who suffered from the magog attacks none suffered worse than the Nietzscheans. While the High Guard did retaliate the Commonwealth chose to negotiate with the Magog and make a treaty to stop the bloodshed. The Treaty of Antares was written and signed by both Magog and Commonwealth representatives. The treaty ceded dozens of planets to the Magog and vice versa. One such planet given to the Magog called Brandenburg Tor, a planet with a primarily Nietzschean population. The Nietzschean Prides were infurated, believing that the Commonwealth had betrayed all those who had died at the hands of the Magog, in the grand scheme they perceived the fact that the Commonwealth signed a treaty for peace with the Magog instead of entering a state of total war against them, was a sign of weakness. Their philosophy says that only the strongest and best must survive, and since the Commonwealth was seen as weak, the Nietzscheans started planning the Fall of the Commonwealth in order to make way for what they saw as what would be a stronger, better governed, society. All the Nietzschean prides united for the purpose of its destruction, although many of Nietzscheans who served in the High Guard remained loyal to the Systems Commonwealth.

The Nietzscheans planned for years before striking, massing main battle fleets over the main Nietzschean planets of Enga's Redoubt, Fountainhead, and Hephaistos IV. When the uprising took place, the Nietzscheans struck at Hephaistos, where they lured 200 High Guard vessels by taking advantage of a spacial disaster above Hephaistos IV. As Commonwealth relief ships arrived, they were destroyed in the ambush one by one. However, the heavy cruiser Andromeda Ascendant was close to Hephaistos IV and responded. It saw the ambush and broadcast a warning to the Systems Commonwealth before engaging the battle fleet. The Andromeda put up a good fight, but while trying to evade the fleet she came too close to the black hole that was threatening Hephaistos IV and got trapped in the event horizon and was frozen in time. Most of the crew from the Andromeda Ascendant managed to get to Slipstream in escape pods before the Andromeda fled.

Despite the Nietzschean's early victories what was intended to be a short war that was meant to last weeks turned into a conflict between the Nietzscheans and Commonwealth that lasted for two years and spanned three galaxies, crippling both sides. The fleets on both sides were fragmented and fights were bitter and prolonged. However, the Commonwealth slowly lost because of the overwhelming number of Nietzschean ships, and the Commonwealth's doom was sealed at the Battle of Witchhead, which all but destroyed the Commonwealth's remaining capital ships. Despite the fact that the Nietzscheans won the battle the betrayal of the reigning Drago-Kazov pride by the Jaguars in the days after Witchhead doomed the Alliance to the same fate as the Commonwealth.

The Nietzscheans won the war, but they would never have their empire. The Nietzscheans had lost so many ships at the Battle of Witchhead that they were unable to defend themselves from the Magog invasion, which caused them to splinter into many smaller factions and fight amongst each other.

The Magog invasion not only destroyed the remnants of the defeated Commonwealth, but it also crippled the Nietzschean Alliance. With their alliance in ruins, the Nietzschean prides quickly turned on each other. The Nietzscheans found themselves dragged into a bloody civil war with each pride trying to capture as much territory for themselves as possible. The Nietzschean Empire came to an end before it even began.

Without the Commonwealth or the Nietzschean Empire to protect them, the known worlds were dragged into 300 years of darkness which would become known as the Long Night.

Although no one knew it at the time, Dylan Hunt caused the destruction of the Nietzschean Empire and unintentionally caused the Long Night. After he was rescued from the event horizon of a black hole, Dylan accidentally traveled 300 years into the past and ended up at the Battle of Witchhead. Once there he was forced to ignite the Witchhead Nebula in an attempt to destroy the Nietzschean fleet and save the Commonwealth because of a predestination paradox. Unfortunately Dylans plan didn't work. Of the 1500 Nietzschean ships, only a thousand were destroyed, and the remaining 500 ships were scattered and confused. The Nietzscheans won the battle and history unfolded exactly as it was meant to. It was only after the nebula ignited that Tyr Anasazi told Dylan of what Nietzschean history called an "Angel of Death" which appeared and crippled the Nietzschean fleet. Dylan realized that the Angel of Death was in fact the Andromeda Ascendant.